Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) Earns “Equal Weight” Rating from Wells Fargo & Company

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by Wells Fargo & Company in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $165.00 price objective on the apparel retailer’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 6.71% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $185.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ross Stores from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target (down from $178.00) on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.29.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of ROST opened at $154.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market cap of $51.02 billion, a PE ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $149.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.66. Ross Stores has a twelve month low of $127.53 and a twelve month high of $163.60.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ross Stores will post 6.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ROST. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Ross Stores during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Ross Stores in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the 3rd quarter worth $60,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ross Stores

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company’s Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.